Quality of life report - Poverty line shows up a hollow boast

IT is no mean boast that Ireland now ranks in the top ten of the world’s quality of life league, according to the just-published annual UN report.

Overall, we rate 10th out of 177 nations assessed by the UN on key factors such as income levels and standards of health and education.

Incredibly, after Luxembourg and Norway, we now have the third-highest per capita GDP (the measure of national wealth per person) in the world.